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The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time: 1990's
Some villains need not utter a word to truely express their evil- but the best don't shut up in the first place! In the decade of indie studios and the rise of CGI. The grittier side of cinema had been revealed, replacing sadistics slashers and over-the-top action flicks to the subtle and the serious. As a part of the "Top Ten Villains of All Time" series, I'm listing some of the most iconic or skillfully portrayled villains of the 1990's. The villains that are included are based on their ccritical reception, powerful performance, and how much fan love they've received. For the record, no villains using motion capture, animated, or non-human villains, so no Sid from Toy Story. Number 5: Tyler Durden (Fight Club, 1999) This guy made dirty apartments, terrorism, and brown water look badass. Unlike the Narrator protagonist, Tyler Durden is calm, confident, and utterly charming. He seeks little more than to break men out of their humdrum lives and go back to the glory days of America. His lack of compromise and charismatic make us, despite how materially terrible his life is, envious of him. Despite his plans to destroy modern society, we're almost on his side the entire time. Number 4: Agent Smith (The Matrix franchise, 1999-2003) It was as if villains were made to be played by Hugo Weaving, and nothing defines that as much as the Matrix franchise. Here, we see Weaving trading his elven kingdom and armor for a pair of shades and cloning. Say what you will about the franchise as a whole- Agent Smith was easily the scariest part of that sci-fi franchise. His silky calm voice matched his steely exterior, while his fighting ability makes him the deadliest thing inside and outside the computer system. Number 3: Roger 'Verbal' Kint (The Usual Suspects, 1995) Who is Keyser Soze? It's a tale of mystery and intrigue that's told by Roger 'Verbal' Kint, the pathetically weak con man and sole survivor of a failed heist. Roger tells the amazing rise of the mythical criminal mastermind Keyser Soze, who organized the heist Kint had participated in. Believing Verbal's story, the police allow him to leave- only to piece together that every fact of Verbal's story has been constructed with previous case files laying around the office. Verbal walks away- without the limp- and leaves us all staring in amazement at how easily he used the police like puppets. Number 2: Amon Goeth (Schindler's List, 1993) Nazis really are despiacble human beings- and Amon Goeth is the prime example. Head of Plaszow concentration camp, Amon Goeth tortured and murdered his Jewish prisoners with childish glee. Sniping them from his office, executing them in mass numbers, and other atrocities are just a few things Amon Goeth has committed. Ralph Fiennes delivers the best performance of his career in this Spielberg biopic, and his efforts got him an Oscar nomination for that year. Honorable Mentions *T-1000 (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, 1991) *Drexly Sprivy (True Romance, 1993) *John Doe (Se7en, 1995) *Mr. Blonde (Reservoir Dogs, 1992) *Norman Stansfield (Leon the Professiona, 1994) *Marcells Wallace (Pulp Fiction, 1992) Number 1: Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs, 1991) I guess you could say Hannibal ate away the competition! ...Anyway, who else could've taken this top spot. Sir Anthony Hopkins earned unimaginable critical and commercial praise for his portrayal of the cannibalistic serial killer. The British actor brought this character right from the pages with his own brand of charm and elegance, but perfectly portraying the monstrosity of the character as well. One of the few times the Academy called it right, Hannibal has been cemented into cinema history as a villain for the ages! Hopkins wasn't the first or last person to put on the muzzle, but he was by far the best!